Just when all the over-saturation and post-mortem bandwagoners almost had me putting all my favorite Dilla shit back on the shelf – in comes the official torchbearer, House Shoes, to re-ignite the spark. His forthcoming mixtape (in the truest sense of the word), The King James Version, is a smoke-filled trip through the used crates of the late beat pioneer that reminds us all (because some of you apparently need it) just why James Yancey is the G.O.A.T.

With all the bullshit posthumous mixtapes that came out with Dilla’s name & likeness unfairly attached to it (as previously discussed here), this is one of the few that does his legacy justice. It’ll have you pulling out all your favorite Dilla CD’s, records, and illegally downloaded beat CD’s (you know you got em) again with a newfound respect for his craftsmanship with each secret revealed.

The King James Version is the first of an on-going series that will be released through a limited run of CD’s sold directly by Shoes himself, starting on January 9th. Below is a free download of the first track of the five that will appear on the CD, as previously heard on his Shoes House podcast. For a (much) better write-up of KJV, check out Hubert’s Frying In Vein blog.

Also, stick around after the jump for three bonus tracks that showcase House Shoes’ own, often slept-on, production skills with Detroit classics he produced for Finale, Elzhi, and Decompoze.

Today I’ve got your first listen of the new single from one of my favorite MC tag teams, Invincible & Finale. Michigan’s finest duo are at it again – this time with “Don’t Sleep,” an awakening system shock aimed at all the zombies out there. The track features Invincible on the verses, Finale holding down the hook, none other than Black Milk supplying the beat, and LD of Technicali on the cuts. “Don’t Sleep” will be released as a digital-only single by Mello Music Group later on this month with the Black Milk instrumental version as well.

A full-length stream of the song is available below, and then after the jump I’ve provided three highlights from Invincible & Finale’s many collaborations together – two of which were also produced by Black Milk. The line-up includes “Last Warning” – the original version of what would later become “Hip-Hop” on BR Gunna (Black Milk & Young RJ)’s Dirty District Vol. 2 compilation. The beat to the track was switched when Slum Village wanted to use it for the intro to their Detroit Deli album – but when the beat didn’t make it onto that album either, Invincible decided to use it as the title track to her Last Warning mixtape. Along with that we’ve also got “Recognize” off of Invincible’s ShapeShifters album – which finds the two MC’s first breaking down the history of how they first linked up, before flexing their respective styles on the second half of the track. Rounding it all out is “Eye Of The Beholder” – a poetic storytelling track from Finale’s album with producer Spier1200 for the Rawkus 50 campaign. “Beholder” pairs Invincible & Finale up with Elzhi, yet another force of lyricism from The D.

Artwork by TokiO.

Invincible “Last Warning” (feat. Finale) (prod. BR Gunna)
from Last Warning Mixtape (CD-R, 2005)

Invincible “Recognize” (feat. Finale) (prod. Black Milk)
from ShapeShifters (EMERGENCE, 2008)

Finale & Spier1200 “Eye Of The Beholder” (feat. Invincible & Elzhi)
from Develop (Rawkus 50/Soul Step, 2008)